Summer Fun: 39 Clues -- Week 5

I woke up to thunderstorms. Considering the fact that we have swim lessons, 39 Clues and soccer practice today, this is not a good thing. As I listened to the thunder rumble at 5 a.m., I was quickly thinking of all the ways I could move our 39 Clues adventure inside. None of my options are good today. So, I'm praying that it stops raining so we can have our duck race outside.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering why we would have a duck race. That doesn't represent a talent of one of the kids. Today, though, our featured child is my next door neighbor's middle daughter. And if there's one thing that stands out about her, it's that she loves ducks.

She loves ducks so much that last Easter her dad thought it would be a great idea to bring home live baby ducks (without telling mom), but that's a story for another day. Suffice it to say that the ducks are now living a happy life on a nearby farm.

Ducks are what this little girl is passionate about. Oh, we're also going to have her teach us how to tap dance, which I cannot wait to get pictures of, but ducks are her thing. And that's what this summer is all about -- learning to appreciate other people and their likes and interests. I want my kids to know that just because someone else has a different interest from you, that doesn't make them weird or wrong. It just makes them different. And we need to value those differences in others.

So, today, we're going to talk about Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." We're going to talk about what it means to value someone else and how selfishness can rob others of their value.

The kids will each get a dollar, and I'll ask them if they want to trade that dollar in for other currency of varying amounts. The point is to get the kids to recognize that with money, some things are more valuable than others and how we care for that money shows how much we value it. If we lose a quarter, we're not going to be as sad as if we lose a $100 bill.

We're going to talk about how people aren't like money. Even though we're different, God values each of us. And He wants us to value one another as well. He wants us to treat each other as if everyone is as valuable as a $1,000 bill. We'll talk about what that means and how we can show others that we think they have value.

Then, we're going to focus on our duck-loving child. The girls are going to draw ducks. We're going to have a rubber duck race in our little kiddie pool. The kids will get a chance to practice being good winners and losers like we talked about in this space yesterday. I'm hoping to get the chance to explain that even in competition, we need to let others know we value them.

We're also going to let our featured child teach us how to tap dance as she's participated in dance for the past year. I can't wait to see how my non-dancing girls do with this activity.

We'll end the day with prayer and a challenge to show others that we value them this week. The girls will get to take their $1 bills home and put them somewhere that they can see them this week to remind them that God wants us to value others.

So, I'm hoping the rain stops, so we can spend some time today showing our friends how much we value them.  Even if it takes a duck race to do that.